Nutraceutical and antimicrobial potentials of Bambara groundnut (Vigna subterranean): A review

Forgotten Gems: Exploring the Untapped Benefits of Underutilized Legumes in Agriculture, Nutrition, and Environmental Sustainability

In an era dominated by conventional agricultural practices, underutilized legumes termed "Forgotten Gems" represent a reservoir of untapped benefits with the unique opportunity to diversify agricultural landscapes and enhance global food systems. Underutilized crops are resistant to abiotic environmental conditions such as drought and adapt better to harsh soil and climatic conditions. Underutilized legumes are high in protein and secondary metabolites, highlighting their role in providing critical nutrients and correcting nutritional inadequacies. Their ability to increase dietary variety and food security emerges as a critical component of their importance. Compared to mainstream crops, underutilized legumes have been shown to reduce the environmental impact of climate change. Their capacity for nitrogen fixation and positive impact on soil health make them sustainable contributors to biodiversity conservation and environmental balance. This paper identifies challenges and proposes strategic solutions, showcasing the transformative impact of underutilized legumes on agriculture, nutrition, and sustainability. These "Forgotten Gems" should be recognized, integrated into mainstream agricultural practices, and celebrated for their potential to revolutionize global food production while promoting environmental sustainability.

Nutritional, functional, and bioactive properties of african underutilized legumes

Globally, legumes are vital constituents of diet and perform critical roles in maintaining well-being owing to the dense nutritional contents and functional properties of their seeds. While much emphasis has been placed on the major grain legumes over the years, the neglected and underutilized legumes (NULs) are gaining significant recognition as probable crops to alleviate malnutrition and give a boost to food security in Africa. Consumption of these underutilized legumes has been associated with several health-promoting benefits and can be utilized as functional foods due to their rich dietary fibers, vitamins, polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), proteins/essential amino acids, micro-nutrients, and bioactive compounds. Despite the plethora of nutritional benefits, the underutilized legumes have not received much research attention compared to common mainstream grain legumes, thus hindering their adoption and utilization. Consequently, research efforts geared toward improvement, utilization, and incorporation into mainstream agriculture in Africa are more convincing than ever. This work reviews some selected NULs of Africa (Adzuki beans (Vigna angularis), African yam bean (Sphenostylis stenocarpa), Bambara groundnut (Vigna subterranea), Jack bean (Canavalia ensiformis), Kidney bean (Phaseolus vulgaris), Lima bean (Phaseolus lunatus), Marama bean (Tylosema esculentum), Mung bean, (Vigna radiata), Rice bean (Vigna Umbellata), and Winged bean (Psophocarpus tetragonolobus)), and their nutritional, and functional properties. Furthermore, we highlight the prospects and current challenges associated with the utilization of the NULs and discusses the strategies to facilitate their exploitation as not only sources of vital nutrients, but also their integration for the development of cheap and accessible functional foods.

Nutritional Composition, Efficacy, and Processing of Vigna angularis (Adzuki Bean) for the Human Diet: An Overview

Adzuki beans are grown in several countries around the world and are widely popular in Asia, where they are often prepared in various food forms. Adzuki beans are rich in starch, and their proteins contain a balanced variety of amino acids with high lysine content, making up for the lack of protein content of cereals in the daily diet. Therefore, the research on adzuki beans and the development of their products have broad prospects for development. The starch, protein, fat, polysaccharide, and polyphenol contents and compositions of adzuki beans vary greatly among different varieties. The processing characteristic components of adzuki beans, such as starch, isolated protein, and heated flavor, are reported with a view to further promote the processing and development of adzuki bean foods. In addition to favorable edibility, the human health benefits of adzuki beans include antioxidant, antibacterial, and anti-inflammatory properties. Furtherly, adzuki beans and extracts have positive effects on the prevention and treatment of diseases, including diabetes, diabetes-induced kidney disease or kidney damage, obesity, and high-fat-induced cognitive decline. This also makes a case for the dual use of adzuki beans for food and medicine and contributes to the promotion of adzuki beans as a healthy, edible legume.

Indigenous African Orphan Legumes: Potential for Food and Nutrition Security in SSA

In Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), both crop production and the hidden hunger index (HHI, a combination of zinc, iron, and vitamin A deficiency), continue to be worse than the rest of the world. Currently, 31 out of 36 countries of SSA show the highest HHI. At the same time, several studies show climate change as a major constraint to agriculture productivity and a significant threat to SSA food security without significant action regarding adaptation. The food security of SSA is dependent on a few major crops, with many of them providing largely only an energy source in the diet. To address this, crop diversification and climate-resilient crops that have adaptation to climate change can be used and one route toward this is promoting the cultivation of African orphan (neglected or underutilized) crops. These crops, particularly legumes, have the potential to improve food and nutrition security in SSA due to their cultural linkage with the regional food habits of the communities, nutritionally rich food, untapped genetic diversity, and adaptation to harsh climate conditions and poor marginal soils. Despite the wide distribution of orphan legumes across the landscape of SSA, these important crop species are characterized by low yield and decreasing utilization due in part to a lack of improved varieties and a lack of adequate research attention. Genomic-assisted breeding (GAB) can contribute to developing improved varieties that yield more, have improved resilience, and high nutritional value. The availability of large and diverse collections of germplasm is an essential resource for crop improvement. In the Genetic Resources Center of the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture, the collections of orphan legumes, particularly the Bambara groundnut, African yambean, and Kersting's groundnut, have been characterized and evaluated for their key traits, and new collections are being undertaken to fill gaps and to widen the genetic diversity available to underpin breeding that can be further utilized with GAB tools to develop faster and cost-effective climate-resilient cultivars with a high nutrition value for SSA farmers. However, a greater investment of resources is required for applying modern breeding to orphan legume crops if their full potential is to be realized.

Neglected and Underutilised Crops: A Systematic Review of Their Potential as Food and Herbal Medicinal Crops in South Africa

The African continent harbours many native species with nutraceutical and pharmaceutical potential. This study reviewed underutilised crops in South Africa to determine their potential as food and herbal medicinal crops. Over 5,000 species have been identified and earmarked for their medical attributes in formal and informal setups. Researchers, plant breeders and policymakers have mostly ignored the development potential of these crops. Consequently, their value chains are poorly developed. In South Africa, there is a wide range of neglected and underutilised crops, which were historically popular and used by communities; however, over the years, they have lost their status within farming systems and been relegated to the status of neglected and underutilised. Recently, driven by the need to transition to more sustainable and resilient food systems, there has been renewed interest in their potential as food and herbal medicinal crops to establish new value chains that include vulnerable groups. They are now gaining global attention, and their conservation and sustainable utilisation are now being prioritized. The review confirmed that several of these crops possess nutraceutical and pharmaceutical properties, highlighting their potential for development as food and herbal medicines. However, current production levels are too low to meet the requirements for industrial development; research and development should focus on all aspects of their value chain, from crop improvement to utilisation. A transdisciplinary approach involving a wide range of actors is needed to develop the identified neglected and underutilised crops' potential as food and herbal medicinal crops and support the development of new and inclusive value chains.

The Exploitation of Orphan Legumes for Food, Income, and Nutrition Security in Sub-Saharan Africa

Poverty, food, and nutrition insecurity in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) have become major concerns in recent times. The effects of climate change, drought, and unpredictable rainfall patterns threaten food production and sustainable agriculture. More so, insurgency, youth restiveness, and politico-economic instability amidst a burgeoning population requiring a sufficient and healthy diet remain front-burner issues in the region. Overdependence on only a few major staple crops is increasingly promoting the near extinction of many crops, especially orphan legumes, which possess immense potentials as protein and nutritional security crops. The major staple crops are declining in yield partly to their inability to adapt to the continuously changing climatic conditions. Remarkably, the orphan legumes are climate-smart crops with enormous agronomic features which foster sustainable livelihood. Research efforts on these crops have not attained a reasonable comparative status with most commercial crops. Though many research organizations and scientists have made efforts to promote the improvement and utilization of these orphan legumes, there is still more to be done. These legumes' vast genetic resources and economic utility are grossly under-exploited, but their values and promising impacts are immeasurable. Given the United Nations sustainable development goals (SDGs) of zero hunger, improved nutrition, health, and sustainable agriculture, the need to introduce these crops into food systems in SSA and other poverty-prone regions of the world is now more compelling than ever. This review unveils inherent values in orphan legumes needing focus for exploitation viz-a-viz cultivation, commercialization, and social acceptance. More so, this article discusses some of the nutraceutical potentials of the orphan legumes, their global adaptability, and modern plant breeding strategies that could be deployed to develop superior phenotypes to enrich the landraces. Advanced omics technologies, speed breeding, as well as the application of genome editing techniques, could significantly enhance the genetic improvement of these useful but underutilized legumes. Efforts made in this regard and the challenges of these approaches were also discussed.

Improving Bambara Groundnut Production: Insight Into the Role of Omics and Beneficial Bacteria

With the rise in the world population, environmental hazards caused by chemical fertilizers, and a decrease in food supply due to global climate change, food security has become very pertinent. In addition, considerable parts of agriculture lands have been lost to urbanization. It has therefore been projected that at the present rate of population increase coupled with the other mentioned factors, available food will not be enough to feed the world. Hence, drastic approach is needed to improve agriculture output as well as human sustainability. Application of environmentally sustainable approach, such as the use of beneficial microbes, and improved breeding of underutilized legumes are one of the proposed sustainable ways of achieving food security. Microbiome-assisted breeding in underutilized legumes is an untapped area with great capabilities to improve food security. Furthermore, revolution in genomics adaptation to crop improvement has changed the approach from conventional breeding to more advanced genomic-assisted breeding on the host plant and its microbiome. The use of rhizobacteria is very important to improving crop yield, especially rhizobacteria from legumes like Bambara groundnut (BGN). BGN is an important legume in sub-Saharan Africa with high ability to tolerate drought and thrive well in marginalized soils. BGN and its interaction with various rhizobacteria in the soil could play a vital role in crop production and protection. This review focus on the importance of genomics application to BGN and its microbiome with the view of setting a potential blueprint for improved BGN breeding through integration of beneficial bacteria.